4 Incredible Ways to Use Content Marketing to Generate Leads

What’s the difference between content marketing and blogging? If your answer is “Not a lot”, you’re a blogger. There’s no shame in that, but there’s no profit either, or at least nothing that’s going to support a sustainable business.

Content marketing, on the other hand, can be thought of as blogging with a purpose – a highly specific purpose. Like a blogger, you’re looking for your content to be read and shared by as many people as possible, but unlike a blogger you’re not particularly interested in those numbers – you’re more interested in your conversion rate.

See, that’s the other big difference between blogging and content marketing: while the former might include a sign-off encouraging you to like, share or subscribe, content marketing is targeted. You have a specific end goal in mind, and the CTA that appears at the end of your post is merely the final piece of the puzzle, one that begins with your headline and ends, several hundred words later, with the reader hungering for more, so much so that they’re willing to submit their email address and receive follow-up material.

When it’s done well, content marketing is an amazingly powerful tool. Here are just four ways in which you can optimise your chances of success.

Strategy 1: Fill a Need

If your content marketing strategy is to write about what you think your customers want, you don’t have a strategy. Don’t assume – find out. Before you put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard, do your research and identify what it is that people are looking for. There’s a wealth of free resources that will help you identify consumer needs that aren’t currently being met. If your aim is to try and bring organic traffic to your site, keyword research holds the key.

The bad news is this takes a little bit of time and effort. The good news is that because it takes time and effort, most people don’t bother. Because you’re not like most people, and are going to properly research your topic before writing about it, you’ve instantly got an edge. It all starts with the Google AdWord Keyword Planner, but it doesn’t end there. Clicking on “Get ideas” is a great way to brainstorm topics and find keywords that have low competition yet high enough searches to justify crafting content on the subject. You can then use tools such as use the Moz browser extension to whittle down your list of keywords, following the instructions found here.

Keyword research isn’t the only way to plot out your content creation strategy. From focus groups to social media polls, and from surveys to the age-old trick of speaking to your clients and listening to their concerns, there are all kinds of ways to brainstorm new content. The most important thing is that you do something rather than simply dumping your content onto the web and hoping that something sticks.

Strategy 2: Create an e-book

We hear you: does the internet really need another badly written e-book? No, it doesn’t. But yours isn’t going to be badly written. It’s going to be incredible, in keeping with the title of this article. People love free stuff, but only if it provides value. If your e-book sucks, you might still convince people to download it, but they’re not going to assign any value to your brand.

They’re not going to view you as a thought leader or as a visionary or however it is you wish to be perceived. If you’re going to create an e-book – and when it’s implemented well, this can be a phenomenal lead capture strategy – you have to do it right.

Think about it: you’re already an expert at something. All you have to do is find a way of capturing some of that knowledge and delivering it in a way that’s easily digestible. In other words, no one’s asking you to learn any new skills; simply to convey the wisdom you’ve already acquired in a manner that’s readable and useful to your target audience.

Given that this is probably the first time the reader will be hearing your voice, it’s essential that you deliver on your promise. Do that and you’ve got yourself some goodwill and a lead that’s ready to be nurtured to the next stage in the funnel.

Strategy 3: Go Against the Flow

In a field full of white sheep, it’s the black sheep that stands out and in an internet where everyone is screaming the same buzzwords, it pays to take a contrarian stance. This doesn’t mean being wilfully controversial for cheap clicks and it certainly doesn’t mean dispensing content that is downright wrong or inaccurate. What it does mean is not being afraid to find your voice and shout it out loud. Writers such as Mark Manson have built entire careers out of challenging conventional wisdom.

You don’t have to be a professional writer to make this strategy work: you just have to find your niche and to create content that comes across as authentic and attention-grabbing. If there’s one thing that “The dress” taught us it’s that people see things differently. If you see things differently from the rest of the so-called experts in your sector, don’t keep it to yourself: tell the world. Be quirky, go against the flow and you’ll stand out a mile.

Strategy 4: Bait Your Hook

If your headline game sucks, you can forget about the body of the article: it could contain the president’s nuclear codes, the real identity of Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto and next weekend’s winning lottery numbers, but no one would ever know. To hook your readers and lure them in, you need some bait on that hook; an irresistible headline or a compelling social media snippet. Be intriguing, be a tease and be dramatic if you like – but whatever you do, don’t resort to using the sort of bait that everybody hates.

Interested in generating leads? Jumplead is a great tool for generating and managing leads with lead forms, landing pages, email nurture and marketing automation. Start generating leads today. Try Jumplead for free

Clickbait is out. Tasty bait is in. In other words, deliver on the promise laid out in your headline. Come up with the goods and not only will you get that all-important click, but you’ll get readers gobbling up your content, from the first line to the last – the final line containing the all-important call to action.

These are just a few ways to use content marketing for lead generation, and that’s only for starters. There’s plenty more where that came from, providing all the tips you need to create content that isn’t just good: it’s incredibly good. Better content marketing means more leads and more leads means...well you know the rest. Stop blogging and start making great content.

What’s the difference between content marketing and blogging? If your answer is “Not a lot”, you’re a blogger. There’s no shame in that, but there’s no profit either, or at least nothing that’s going to support a sustainable business.

Content marketing, on the other hand, can be thought of as blogging with a purpose – a highly specific purpose. Like a blogger, you’re looking for your content to be read and shared by as many people as possible, but unlike a blogger you’re not particularly interested in those numbers – you’re more interested in your conversion rate.

See, that’s the other big difference between blogging and content marketing: while the former might include a sign-off encouraging you to like, share or subscribe, content marketing is targeted. You have a specific end goal in mind, and the CTA that appears at the end of your post is merely the final piece of the puzzle, one that begins with your headline and ends, several hundred words later, with the reader hungering for more, so much so that they’re willing to submit their email address and receive follow-up material.

When it’s done well, content marketing is an amazingly powerful tool. Here are just four ways in which you can optimise your chances of success.

Strategy 1: Fill a Need

If your content marketing strategy is to write about what you think your customers want, you don’t have a strategy. Don’t assume – find out. Before you put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard, do your research and identify what it is that people are looking for. There’s a wealth of free resources that will help you identify consumer needs that aren’t currently being met. If your aim is to try and bring organic traffic to your site, keyword research holds the key.

The bad news is this takes a little bit of time and effort. The good news is that because it takes time and effort, most people don’t bother. Because you’re not like most people, and are going to properly research your topic before writing about it, you’ve instantly got an edge. It all starts with the Google AdWord Keyword Planner, but it doesn’t end there. Clicking on “Get ideas” is a great way to brainstorm topics and find keywords that have low competition yet high enough searches to justify crafting content on the subject. You can then use tools such as use the Moz browser extension to whittle down your list of keywords, following the instructions found here.

Keyword research isn’t the only way to plot out your content creation strategy. From focus groups to social media polls, and from surveys to the age-old trick of speaking to your clients and listening to their concerns, there are all kinds of ways to brainstorm new content. The most important thing is that you do something rather than simply dumping your content onto the web and hoping that something sticks.

Strategy 2: Create an e-book

We hear you: does the internet really need another badly written e-book? No, it doesn’t. But yours isn’t going to be badly written. It’s going to be incredible, in keeping with the title of this article. People love free stuff, but only if it provides value. If your e-book sucks, you might still convince people to download it, but they’re not going to assign any value to your brand.

They’re not going to view you as a thought leader or as a visionary or however it is you wish to be perceived. If you’re going to create an e-book – and when it’s implemented well, this can be a phenomenal lead capture strategy – you have to do it right.

Think about it: you’re already an expert at something. All you have to do is find a way of capturing some of that knowledge and delivering it in a way that’s easily digestible. In other words, no one’s asking you to learn any new skills; simply to convey the wisdom you’ve already acquired in a manner that’s readable and useful to your target audience.

Given that this is probably the first time the reader will be hearing your voice, it’s essential that you deliver on your promise. Do that and you’ve got yourself some goodwill and a lead that’s ready to be nurtured to the next stage in the funnel.

Strategy 3: Go Against the Flow

In a field full of white sheep, it’s the black sheep that stands out and in an internet where everyone is screaming the same buzzwords, it pays to take a contrarian stance. This doesn’t mean being wilfully controversial for cheap clicks and it certainly doesn’t mean dispensing content that is downright wrong or inaccurate. What it does mean is not being afraid to find your voice and shout it out loud. Writers such as Mark Manson have built entire careers out of challenging conventional wisdom.

You don’t have to be a professional writer to make this strategy work: you just have to find your niche and to create content that comes across as authentic and attention-grabbing. If there’s one thing that “The dress” taught us it’s that people see things differently. If you see things differently from the rest of the so-called experts in your sector, don’t keep it to yourself: tell the world. Be quirky, go against the flow and you’ll stand out a mile.

Strategy 4: Bait Your Hook

If your headline game sucks, you can forget about the body of the article: it could contain the president’s nuclear codes, the real identity of Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto and next weekend’s winning lottery numbers, but no one would ever know. To hook your readers and lure them in, you need some bait on that hook; an irresistible headline or a compelling social media snippet. Be intriguing, be a tease and be dramatic if you like – but whatever you do, don’t resort to using the sort of bait that everybody hates.

Interested in generating leads? Jumplead is a great tool for generating and managing leads with lead forms, landing pages, email nurture and marketing automation. Start generating leads today. Try Jumplead for free

Clickbait is out. Tasty bait is in. In other words, deliver on the promise laid out in your headline. Come up with the goods and not only will you get that all-important click, but you’ll get readers gobbling up your content, from the first line to the last – the final line containing the all-important call to action.

These are just a few ways to use content marketing for lead generation, and that’s only for starters. There’s plenty more where that came from, providing all the tips you need to create content that isn’t just good: it’s incredibly good. Better content marketing means more leads and more leads means...well you know the rest. Stop blogging and start making great content.

Content marketing as a process is found to generate three times as many prospects as outbound marketing, while costing 62% less. See how businesses are using content marketing, their level of success and opinions.